Bonds of Faith
by Lucinda
Summary: The story of Faith from 'Bonds of Soul and Demons' universe.  AU from Becoming, this starts preSunnydale.  No pairing yet.
1. Bonds of Faith

Bonds of Faith: a Tale in the world of Bonds of Soul and Demon  
  
Author: Lucinda  
  
rating: pg 13  
  
main character: Faith, no pairing at this point  
  
disclaimer: I do not own any characters from BtVS  
  
distribution: If you have permission for BS&D and want this, have it. If you don't have permission for BS&D, ask.  
  
note: This is the story of Faith from the Bonds of Soul and Demon series. It went AU after Angel lost his soul, Dru opened Acathala, and Buffy left town, and has not been heard from since.   
  
Note 2: I have since been informed that Faith's previous Watcher was a woman. For the purposes of this timeline, consider that another AU detail.  
  
* * * *  
  
  
  
Faith glared at the tree, annoyed by it's graceful spreading branches, thickly hung with leaves and vines. Oh, it was probably very pretty in the day time, but right now? There were at least two vampires hiding inside that tree, and she couldn't see them because of all the leaves. She needed to get them before they could go... actually, she didn't know where they were trying to go. Only that they had taken something about hand sized from a warehouse connected to the museum, and were trying to take it somewhere. They were obviously minions, which meant that there was a Master vampire with a plan, and the plan required that object. Naturally, as a Slayer, it was her solemn, sacred duty to stop him. And it would be just fun to kick his ass.  
  
How to get the vampires out of the tree without being ambushed by them? She threw a baseball sized rock into the tree, hoping that it would startle them out, feeling oddly like a small child throwing rocks at the mean neighbor's house. Despite the oddness of the situation, it worked. The two vampires, and a third who now had a lump on the side of his head came down from the tree, snarling and charging at her.  
  
The rest was, if not precisely easy, simple to figure out. Three vampires on the ground, one Slayer with a wooden stake. They would be dusted, and she could continue her patrol. Her Watcher had thought there might be a nest of Bessin demons by the river.  
  
"You cannot stop our Master!" One of the minions, a particularly unmemorable vampire with horribly crooked fangs, snarled at her, in what could only be a fit of pathetic defiance.  
  
Faith grinned at him. "Who's you master? Not that it really matters, because I am the Slayer, but it's nice to have names."  
  
One of the other's tried to hit her from behind, with a cry of "For Kakistos, DIE!!"  
  
Well, they had the right sort of lines, but they really were only minions. Faith killed them, and picked up the object, which seemed to be a fist sized... green rock. What was so special about this rock? Maybe she'd best take it back for her Watcher to study.  
  
The rest of her patrol went about as well as she could expect, and her clothing was shredded and stained beyond any hope of recovery by the nest of Bessins. A single Bessin was almost harmless, no bigger than a Labrador, but with sharp teeth and gray scales. Twenty Bessins... well, they had caused more damage than the vampires. But they were dead, every last yapping, snarling one.   
  
She made her way back to Stanton's house, feeling exhausted. But he'd want to know the Bessins were dead, and about the stone, and what had the name been? Kakistos. Yes, she should definitely ask Stanton about this Kakistos vampire.  
  
"Hey, I have returned... still alive, still in working order." Her voice called out into the building as she entered the downstairs part of the building, where Stanton ran a 'rare book store'. He would most likely be in the back, looking over some ancient book.  
  
Slipping into the back, she gave a small sigh. There he was, hunched over some book that had to weigh ten pounds, a huge leather bound monstrosity written in a German scrawl that hurt the eyes to try to decipher. German was one of the few languages she knew, well, that, and French and Latin. All she could do with the other languages was maybe identify them. But she was the Slayer, it was more important that she could use a sword than read Sumerian. Her Watcher, Joseph Stanton, read the Sumerian, as well as lots of other languages. He was this little, hunched over man with thick glasses and a little fringe of pale gray hair. But he was good at noticing details, absolutely rabid about details.  
  
"Did you find the Bessin nest?" His voice sounded almost brittle, and with a strange sort of accent that she couldn't place. It sounded like his books looked, if that made any sense.  
  
"Yeah... I found the Bessins. They were nesting in that old culvert, the one that collapsed in the middle after the flood last year? There were about... twenty three, and yes, I made sure they were all dead. There was also the usual assortment of little vamps... and a couple that tried to steal something from the museum to take home to their master." Faith's voice showed some of her weariness.  
  
"What? A master wanting an object... what did they want? Who is their master? I need details, Faith!" He sounded interested, and annoyed that the details weren't immediately there.  
  
With a small shrug, she placed the rock on the pages in front of him. "They took this, but I don't know why. One of them said something... oh, 'for Kakistos, die' and the first one said 'you can not stop our master', so I'm guessing Kakistos is the name of their master. What's the information on him? Is he anyone to worry about?"  
  
Stanton paled, his skin now almost a match for the pages of the big book of confusing German prophecies. "Did you say... are you absolutely certain he said Kakistos? You didn't mistake the name?"  
  
"He said Kakistos. I mean, it was definitely Kakistos, but I was only guessing on the why... and just how bad is this guy?" Faith was getting a sinking feeling. Stanton looked freaked, which was entirely out of the ordinary for him. If this Kakistos was enough to do this to her Watcher, the man she'd suspected of having anti-freeze for blood, there had to be trouble ahead.  
  
"This is very bad. Kakistos... he is an ancient vampire, perhaps two thousand years old. The passing centuries and the corruption of his evil have warped and changed him. He can never look human as the vampires you kill every night do, and the evil within him has twisted his hands and feet into cloven hooves." Stanton's voice was serious, and there was a definite hint of fear.  
  
Faith wanted to know just how bad this was, although there was a small part of her whispering that she didn't want to know. "How evil are we talking here?"  
  
Stanton narrowed his eyes, giving Faith a look that made it quite clear he was NOT amused. "Kakistos is on the listing of the most deadly vampires, according to generations of Watchers. He is known to have killed a dozen slayers, possibly in some sort of sacrificial ritual, the purpose of which we do not know. Other vampires and demons fear Kakistos. That is how bad."  
  
Faith closed her eyes for a moment, entertaining the unrealistic fantasy that all of this was a dream, that she would wake up a normal girl. Someone who didn't have to know how to kill a vampire with a pocketknife and her shoelaces, someone that didn't think demons existed outside of horror movies. Someone that had a loving family and a circle of friends to watch out for her. Might as well wish to have the moon as her personal playground while she was at it...  
  
"Right... he's a really evil, evil vampire. Why is he here? How do I stop him?" Faith was trying to keep her emotions in check.  
  
"My suspicion, and this is just my personal feeling, is that he does sacrifice the Slayers. I think... I think he came here to find you, Faith. If there is some sort of ritual, there might also be some sort of time cycle, and it seems as if the time is approaching. So he needs a Slayer." Stanton's words were soft, and filled with a hollow tone, as if something inside of him had stopped.  
  
Faith felt a coldness curl into her belly, and an almost numb heavy feeling moved through her body, something more than simple exhaustion. "You think we're going to die, don't you?"  
  
Stanton could only nod his head.  
  
end part 1.  
  
The next day was bad from the start. Faith didn't remember her lessons, couldn't remember if she'd eaten. She didn't feel hungry, but that wasn't a certain check. She was pummeling the training dummies, trying to work through the cold knot of fear that had settled inside her, above her stomach and below her lungs, cutting off both appetite and good breathing. Stanton was afraid... that was a first, and despite the many times that she'd joked about wanting to know what it would take to breach that British calm, she wasn't happy. This old saying went through her head, 'Be careful what you ask for, you might get it'. She'd wondered, and her question was answered.  
  
Kakistos, some really, really old vampire with a habit of killing Slayers every century and a half. Somebody that frightened other vampires. And he was after her now. She kept hitting the punching bag, trying to feel anything besides the cold fear and the slowing numbness that had seeped into her.  
  
"Faith, I think you've hit that bag enough... more than enough. Your hands are bleeding... please stop."  
  
Stanton was there at her side, his hands feeling like the fragile pages of his books as he caught her blood covered hands in his, gently leading her to a chair. He cleaned the blood away with a damp cloth, and Faith wondered if it was warm or cool. He wrapped thin gauze bandaging around her knuckles, but not before Faith had seen that she'd split the skin on them from hitting the bag so many times.  
  
"I'm sorry... I just... this has me rattled, y'know?" Her voice was barely over a whisper, a far cry from her normal confidence.  
  
He only nodded. "I know... this has me a bit unsettled as well. But there is... I suppose hope would be the best way to put it. I just received a packet of information from the Council... My first look, as always was at the prophecies, and it was only last night that I looked at the letters. It seems... well, they didn't send the particulars on how it was possible, but there is another Slayer alive. Her name is Buffy Summers, and she lives in Sunnydale California. I don't have to tell you that this was quite a shock, after all, when one dies another is chosen, but... apparently, she is somehow alive, and also a Slayer. Perhaps we can contact her for assistance, especially if this gets... ugly."  
  
"There's another Slayer?" Faith felt as if her world had been flipped on her. Another Slayer meant that she wasn't the only one in all the world, not the only one between the world and irreversible doom. Not unique. "That's... am I even necessary then? After all, if there's this... Buffy? Why does the Council need me if they've got her?" Faith could feel a lump forming in her throat, one that she suspected might turn into tears given the chance. Slaying was all she knew how to do. If there was another Slayer, was there a point in her even being here? Was she just... some sort of joke to the Council?  
  
"Faith... it isn't the Council that activates a Slayer, that's... well, they're referred to as the Powers That Be. Please, don't say 'be what?', it isn't the time. They've always been described as the forces for the Greater Good, something like the opposite of the rulers of the Lower Dimensions. Almost like God, if you will. The Powers would not have made you a Slayer if you weren't needed, and that's the end of the matter." There was a determination in his voice, and it was clear that Stanton had no doubt about what he'd just told her.  
  
"So, this is my destiny? It's not some mistake?" Faith was aware that she sounded awfully like a frightened child seeking reassurance. 'mommy, there's a monster's in my closet...' 'mommy, I had a bad dream...'  
  
He held her hands in his, trying to convey the seriousness of his words to her. "Faith, your destiny is not a mistake. This is what you were born for, to protect people from dangers that they don't even want to believe in. The fact that you are not, as we had believed, the only person trying to keep the world safe does not in any way lessen the importance of your actions."  
  
"So, we want to try to get rid of this ancient, evil, ugly vamp ourselves, and then we can party. Safe and secure that there's a good chance I can take five minutes off without the world getting destroyed?" Fait tried to smile, knowing that Stanton wouldn't be entirely fooled by it. He was her Watcher, and he was observant.  
  
  
  
He sighed. "That would be the idea. Unfortunately, it won't be easy, and I do not have a plan yet. But yes, you should be able to take five minutes for a victory dance without the world being condemned to hell or overrun by an invading demon army."  
  
Faith grinned. "Yes! Except for the part about having no plan. So, should I patrol?"  
  
"I do suggest that you patrol... but be extra careful. Try to be alert for any possible information about Kakistos, and do not let yourself be captured." Stanton sounded unusually grim, but that was entirely understandable, considering.  
  
"Right... careful. Because that is exactly what I've been training for these past years to be. Yeah..." With a smile, she picked up her favorite knife, a handful of solid wooden stakes, and her jacket before heading out into the darkness.  
  
Watching her go out of his building, Stanton sighed. How could he pretend that this was the same as all the other things they had faced? How long could he keep her from knowing just how terrible the danger was? He had a duty to the world, and Faith desperately needed someone to help keep her on the proper path. As Slayers were trained to find violent solutions, it would be terribly easy for one to fall into darkness if they lacked sound guidance.  
  
"I'm getting too old for this." With creaking joints, the small old man returned to his books, hoping to find something, some little clue that he could use to find a way to defeat Kakistos. He only hoped that between his efforts and the fact that Faith wasn't alone, there would be a way to defeat Kakistos. Otherwise, his Slayer was doomed.  
  
end part 2.  
  
Faith's efforts on the patrol, during any other time, would have been wonderful. A dozen vampire minions, reduced to dust. An small assortment of other demons, and a pair of hellhounds as well as some rotted thing that looked like nothing more than a shambling zombie, all rotted and slimy. But she had learned nothing more than the name Kakistos was greeted either by blank cluelessness, or fear that went beyond the fear of dying at her hands. It was official: Kakistos was bad news.  
  
She was feeling frustrated, and at a disadvantage. She didn't have the information that she needed, and she had been unable to beat it out of any of the demons that had crossed her path. How could she defeat this Kakistos if she couldn't even find out where he was or what his weaknesses were? How could she survive this without a plan?  
  
What could a Slayer do now? She didn't have the information, she couldn't find the information using her own resources. Without information, she couldn't make a plan. Without a plan, an attack would be suicidal. While she knew that she had a number of character flaws, which Stanton pointed out in his dry voice on a regular basis, she wasn't suicidal.  
  
She shook her head and decided to go back to see if Stanton had made any progress with his books. She felt something, almost like the feeling of a slimy, cold thing crawling over her back, but it wasn't from anything physical. This was her special Slayer senses kicking in, the ones that gave her warnings of big scary evil, or serious trouble. If there wasn't anything here to be menacing her, then it could only mean...  
  
"Stanton!" Faith was racing through the darkness, filled with a sense of dread.  
  
Part of her was unsurprised to find the store standing open, light spilling out into the street. The tall shelves had been overturned, and rare books lay scattered over the ground. The only sound was the teapot whistling fiercely in the back. She felt as if time had slowed down as she walked towards the work area, part of her just wanting to go hide in a bed, the covers thrown over her head like a tiny child. But she had to know what had happened, had to find Stanton.  
  
The back room looked like a whirlwind had been through. Her training equipment was thrown everywhere, one of the padded mannequins opened, the interior fluff floating around the room. Papers had been scattered, some with Stanton's spidery scrawl, others from the packet of information from the Council. Stanton was gone. This was a disaster.  
  
"Someone's taken my Watcher." Her words were a pain filled whisper. Stanton had warned her that if she made friends, they might be in danger from demons or vampires seeking to hurt her through the people that she cared about, but he'd somehow never considered that that someone could be him. Or maybe he'd thought about it and just not shared, trying to keep it a secret, to protect her.  
  
The only things that she could decipher was anger, a deep feeling that this was supposed to be one of those lines that the bad guys didn't cross, and a dark burning desire to kill them all, everyone responsible for any harm done to Stanton, even a hangnail. She turned off the teapot, barely noticing that she had done so, and picked up an axe, her fingers curling around the haft.  
  
She would find them, and chop the offenders into little dusty... bloody... into little chunks, and if they disintegrated, she would stomp on them. But she couldn't let this go, couldn't ignore the danger that Stanton was in.  
  
Faith was ignoring the little part of her mind pointing out that she STILL didn't know the weaknesses or strategy of Kakistos. She still didn't have any carefully planned strategy, just a simple goal: kill the bad guys. All the bad guys. Rescue the watcher.  
  
Her movements were more like the lethal stalking of the demons that she hunted. The few foolish or unlucky minions that crossed her path were simply dispatched, with quick, angry movements that conserved as much of her energy as possible, her eyes shining with a peculiar mix of anger and almost tears. She was feeling, attempting to find that thread that tied her to Stanton, that hint of connection that should let her find him... There was a steady liteny running through her mind: 'please let him be okay please don't take him away from me please let me get him back please'.  
  
The feeling lead her to a dingy warehouse that looked as if it were attempting to become one with the soil. She eliminated the sentries, and crept closer, her stomach clenched with dread. She carefully peered through a dirty window, tring to get an idea what was happening. Stanton was tied to a chair, his arms to the chair's arms, and his legs to the chair legs. Facing him was a slender black man in a deep blue suit, a person that looked entirely out of place in the warehouse. Vampire. But unfortunately, one of the ones who'd retained enough of a mind to be really dangerous.  
  
Approaching Stanton was a figure, big and looming, radiating this crawling evil feeling. There was this odd clicking when he walked, and with a sense of spinning horror, Faith realized that that thing had hooves. This was very bad.  
  
"Where is your little Slayer?" His voice didn't even sound right, although she couldn't put words to it's wrongness.  
  
Stanton simply sat there, his back to Faith and the tiny window. With a look of frustration, the black vampire reached out, taking hold of one of Stanton's fingers and giving a twist, the finger bone popping with a loud sound, one that reminded her sickeningly of rotisserie chicken. "Kakistos asked you a question."  
  
"You will tell me where she is, and I will take her as I have taken all the others. I will feed upon the marrow of her bones, and her strength will become mine."  
  
Weakly, Stanton shook his head, his shoulders looking uncomfortably tense. "No. I will not hand my Slayer over to you."  
  
"Such defiance. Unwise in such a small, fragile old man." Kakistos looked almost pleased. "I will just have to break you... or maybe kill you. The difference is so small."  
  
Two more finger bones and a terrible blow to his eye that Faith could hope was nothing more than a bruise, and Stanton had done nothing more than half choked groans.  
  
Faith had been systematically slaughtering every vampire and demon in the area that could potentially belong to Kakistos. Now, she had found an open door, and slipped inside the warehouse.  
  
"You aren't big enough or young enough to get away with defiance like that for long." The smooth voice of the vampire in the suit struck Faith as entirely unnatural.  
  
"F...five...b... by...Five..." Stanton's voice was a painful wheeze, barely decipherable.  
  
"What? What in the world does that mean?" The suit vampire was angry now, but Kakistos still seemed to be simply enjoying his pain.  
  
"Nn... not sh...short. Ffive by..." Stanton's voice was weak, but it still held a tone of disappointment.  
  
Faith chose that moment to attack, certain that she could cause some trouble. The higher grade followers were there, forming a protective rank between her and Kakistos, each one trying to be the one to drag her down. As Faith was delayed by snarling vampires and a flurry of kicks, punches and stabbings, she glanced at Stanton.  
  
Kakistos choose that moment to reach out, his deformed two fingered hand resting ever so briefly on Stanton's head, and squeezed, bringing his fingers together. Stanton didn't have a chance.  
  
"You are next, little Slayer." There was a horrible glee to the voice of the ancient vampire.  
  
What happened next was the worst, most cowardly thing that she'd ever done. Faith bolted, running away from the terrifying ancient vampire, abandoning the fight, her only thought to get as far from here as she could... to get to the one place on earth that she might have a chance to find someone powerful enough to help her.  
  
Faith was going to go to Sunnydale.  
  
end part 3.  
  
End Bonds of Faith, story 1. 


	2. Faith in Motion

Faith in Motion  
  
Author: Lucinda  
  
story #2 in Bonds of Faith, companion series to Bonds of Soul & Demon  
  
Main Character: Faith  
  
rating: pg 13  
  
Disclaimer: I hold no legal rights to Faith or any other characters from the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer  
  
Distribution: Anyone with permission for BS&D that wants this can have it, anyone with permission for BoF1 may have this.  
  
note: somewhat AU season 3.  
  
Faith had this feeling of cold unsteadiness in her gut, something not exactly fear, not exactly disappointment, but containing elements of both. She was running away... something that went against her training and half of her instincts. But she knew that Kakistos was after her. Knew that she was pursuing in an effort to catch up with her, to 'feed on the marrow of her bones' which was a really gruesome image.  
  
He'd killed her watcher, killed the only person that she'd ever been able to count on in her life. He'd crushed Joseph's head like a grape, a casual cruelty that had meant little to the ancient vampire. She had nobody to help her, and only a single chance to get out of this alive. She had to get to Sunnydale, find this 'Buffy Summers' and hope that with two Slayers working together, they could kill Kakistos. Maybe it was a feeble, unrealistic hope, but it was the one thing that kept her going.  
  
She'd cut south, going through the Virginias and down briefly into Alabama, hitting the local demonic populations as hard as she could on her way through. Realistically, there was a good chance that her slaying was what enabled Kakistos to follow her so easily. But what else was she to do? Give up everything that made her matter and run away because someone she'd cared about was dead? Not hardly, she was a Slayer, for God's sake.  
  
The frantic pace of her flight was starting to take a toll on her, especially since she wasn't exactly traveling in style. Hitching rides on trains or hidden in the cargo of semi trucks that seemed to be headed more or less in the right direction... It wasn't particularly efficient, or restful. But the alternatives were worse, and she could only see two: either Kakistos caught her and she died, or something killed her on patrol, which would thwart Kakistos but still leave her dead. She wasn't seeing anything better than get to Sunnydale and hope for help.  
  
One ambitious Master vampire in Alabama had tried to capture her, holding her in a pit with alligators while he tried to negotiate something with somebody over a telephone. She'd pictured that suit wearing second for Kakistos, and had managed to kill the alligators and minions, making her way outside where she threw some used car oil onto the building, setting it on fire to serve as a distraction while she ran. She didn't know if the Master vampire had made it out or not, but she'd gotten away, she'd kept moving.  
  
She just about wept from relief when she saw the entering California sign, feeling as if the chance for help was almost close enough to touch. She was running low on everything, exhaustion making her muscles feel slow and heavy, turning her tendons to hot wires under her skin. Her eyes itched and blurred from a desperate need for sleep. At the very least, a Slayer and a Watcher would be someone who might understand why this had her so shaken.  
  
Granted, there was a part of her that almost felt proud of her traveling slaying, but... then she always came back to the reason why she'd left, why she'd crossed the country in two weeks, slaying several hundred vampires and demons on her way through. There was also the fact that she wasn't slaying them because she was hunting exactly, but because she'd go out to stretch the travel kinks from her limbs and there would be demons or vampires. She couldn't afford for them to be trying to sell word of her location. They had to die so that she might live.  
  
It was a few hours later when the truck pulled to a stop at a gas station, the Slayer hidden under the tarps that stretched over a trio of huge motors for some unknown machinery. Faith could feel the air in this pace, a burning, itching, sense of wrongness. This had to be Sunnydale, home of the Hellmouth. She picked up the backpack with her clothing, and the duffel bag full of weapons, and carefully slipped down from the back of the truck. All she had to do now was find a place to stay, and find the other Slayer. She would also need a chance to make some more wooden stakes, she was running low.  
  
After walking a while, she ended up in front of a run-down looking small yellow motel. A few words with the night clerk got her the key to a room for the week, and the bored comment that there was a laundry room at the end of the building. Most likely, this was the sort of place inhabited by migrant workers, runaways, and used for cheap affairs. It was a dump, but it had a bed. She collapsed into it gratefully, a sword in hand and still mostly dressed, pulling the blankets over her, even the extra one from the closet, feeling cold from her travels and fear. Nothing short of someone attacking her room would make her stir, and as exhausted as she was, even that might be debatable. She was asleep within five minutes of closing the door to the room.  
  
Had she the energy for prayer, she would have asked God not to let her dream tonight, having relived that last, horrible night in Boston every time she'd tried to catch a moment's sleep over the past two weeks. It was keeping things raw and fresh in her mind, a sense of horror and loss, and an agonizing grief. Joseph Stanton was dead, her Watcher was gone... and she had nobody to count on.  
  
end part 1.  
  
Eventually, even the most exhausted slumber will end, and Faith's was no exception. She found herself waking up, her body slightly aching with the odd sort of stiffness that comes from too much sleep, and her eyes feeling almost gummy. She stretched, delighting in the fact that she was in a real bed, in a room, not curled on a crate in a train, or hidden in a gap among some strange cargo. The shower was cramped, and the water pressure was fairly weak, but it felt wonderful to her. She could be clean again... wash away her travels and the ground in fear and dust of slain vampires, wash away her panic... or at least, the outward signs of her troubles. By the time she'd finished her shower and dressed, it was four in the afternoon.  
  
She spent a few hours running most of her clothing through the small and obviously old washer and dryer at the motel, wanting to take advantage of the time to try to get her things clean while she could. They'd been fought in, traveled across the country in trains and the back of trucks, and catching a bit of food or rest in various truck and bus stops across the country, and had acquired a distinct and pungent aroma while traveling. To put it bluntly, her cloths stank, and needed laundered badly, before they got up and started slaying without her. While they were washing, she pulled up the Sunnydale phone book in the drawer, trying to figure out if any of the names or listings might be a place to start looking for the Slayer Buffy or her Watcher. It would have been easier if Joseph had mentioned the name of the other Watcher, but he hadn't had the chance before... well, he hadn't.  
  
By the time her clothing was finished, now smelling like Mountain Fresh detergent instead of... well, the way it had before, she had concluded that the phone book was not going to help her find the Watcher or the other Slayer. She would have to do something else. Hmm... If she were trying to find a Slayer, how would she start? Go where the vampires would be, naturally. She would have to check if any of the local clubs or shops looked like prime hunting areas, and failing that, try a sweep of the cemetery regions. She should get a lead somewhere, or at least work off a bit of frustration if she couldn't.  
  
Eventually, her meanderings brought her to a small club. It wasn't particularly big, or impressive compared to some that she'd seen, but it was most likely the best that she'd get in this place. Most likely a prime hunting area for some of the vamps. A vamp could come in here, pick up a 'date' walk them away, and have a nice, tasty treat. Inside, there was music, smoke, and the warmth of dozens of people crowded into a single place. She could feel a vampire's presence in here somewhere, but couldn't get anything specific. Good thing she was dressed to look not so professional. In the tight dark jeans and this little sleeveless top with the cutout and dangling beads, she just looked like a normal girl out looking for an evening of fun. Most vamps wouldn't suspect a thing in this sort of crowd, which meant she could try to find the vamp.  
  
She danced, feeling her muscles warming and relaxing as she moved to the music. A lot of guys came near, dancing near her for a while, flirting, obviously hoping that her dancing and clothing was a sign that she was an easy lay, hoping to score tonight. Too bad, so sad, she wasn't quite that easy, but it made a great way of distracting the vamps in a fight.  
  
"Dance with me?" The voice came from behind her, setting off warning signals inside. It seemed just a bit too rolling, too smooth.  
  
She turned, smiling at the speaker, a fairly cute guy in clothing that could have been straight from... well, not recently. He had dark hair and pale skin, and a hard gleam in his eye. Definitely a vampire. "I'd love to dance."  
  
Her smile was more from finally finding the vampire than any joy at having a dance partner. Most likely, he'd even ask her to 'slip out the back' with him, giving the perfect opportunity to stake him. Yeah, the evening was going pretty well.  
  
He was predictable enough, wandering hands, eyeing her like a particularly appealing snack. Eventually, he leaned down, his voice tickling her ear. "Want to go somewhere more private?"  
  
She smiled, and they made their way out the back of the club, ending up in an alley. Faith frowned just a bit as she realized that she'd lost all but one stake, the one tucked into her boot. How could she get that out without him catching on? She heard a growl, and turned just in time for the vampire's fist to connect to her cheekbone, the blow sending her back into the wall.  
  
Faith scowled at him, her eyes going hard and angry. "I can't stand guys who hit women." She then proceeded to knock him around, raining kicks and punches on the vampire, feeling the sort of spongy impact that said he'd have bruises tomorrow. If he even had a tomorrow.  
  
She was starting to think that there wasn't anything to kill this guy with when she heard the shuffling of feet at the end of the alley. A quick glance showed a pair of guys dressed more for comfort than fashion, and an astonished girl whose clothing shrieked money, trend-setter, and aspiring class. The darker haired guy had a wooden stake loosely held in one hand.  
  
Faith grabbed the stake, stabbing the vampire with it, smiling as he fell to dust. Handing it back to the now gaping boy, she smirked just a bit. "I'm Faith, the Vampire Slayer."  
  
end part 2.  
  
Faith had watched with a little bit of amusement as they had just stared at her. The girl seemed so shaken, as if everything was more trying to her. Faith really didn't have a lot of leeway to forgive the girl, she reminded her unpleasantly of people she'd been glad to leave behind. There were several glances though, as if the guys were communicating in some weird code.  
  
After a few moments of exchanging glances, the larger guy, not bad looking in a sort of goofy way, gave a small grin. When he spoke, his tone was almost joking, but not quite. "We can show you over to Giles' place. He's our fearless Watcher, although he's out of town right now. We tend to gather there to plan things. We can fill you in on all the gory and ugly details of Sunnydale."   
  
Maybe there was hope. Maybe she could find allies here after all. As they went towards the place of this Giles, apparently the local Watcher and a librarian at their high school, the stories mentioned Buffy the Slayer a lot, and someone else, a girl named Willow. The fashion conscious girl was Cordelia, and the Slayer was named Buffy, so... Her instincts were telling her that there was more to the story of this Willow person, and something about the disappearance of Buffy... and she really hoped that the two weren't connected. "what happened to the Slayer that was here, Buffy? "So, what happened to this Willow that you mentioned? Did she die or bail from town or what?"  
  
"We don't hang with her anymore." The quiet one, Oz gave a short answer, tinged with something... sorrow? Dismay? Whatever it was, it was pretty clear to her that he was a guy of few words, and had some sort of issue about the vanishing of Willow in their lives.  
  
"She's sleeping with the enemy. Willow's shacking up with this evil, nasty, bleached blond vampire called Spike. He's trouble, and bad. She used to be so nice, quiet and sweet, didn't have anything bad to say about anyone... then Spike happened. Evil vampire...." Xander's voice carried anger and bitterness. It was as if everything wrong in the town was because of this Spike, and maybe about Willow... or maybe this thing with Willow was one of the 'bad things' Spike had caused?  
  
Faith nodded, knowing that to the others it would look as if she was entirely accepting of the opinions that the boys were offering. Something wasn't right with that. Vampires didn't normally keep mortal lovers. There had to be a great big piece of the story that she was missing?   
  
"What happened to the Slayer that was here before? Buffy?" She had to know. If the Slayer was gone, and the Watcher was gone, she would have no advantage over Kakistos when he arrived here. He would arrive, she knew that as surely as she could feel that this place was evil. She needed allies, that was the whole point in coming here to this horrible place.   
  
Faith listened as the trio spun out a story of a pretty girl, faced with a terrible destiny. Buffy had faced danger, and fallen in love with a vampire, called Angel, and according to Cordelia, this vampire had been amazingly hot. Something had happened, Buffy and Angel had sex, Angel went evil, then there was a bit of confusion, Willow had apparently got involved with that Spike person, and then Buffy was gone.   
  
If that was the whole story, Faith was the tooth fairy. Actually, she had never found any evidence to suggest that there was such a creature as a tooth fairy, but still. There had to be more to the story. Vanishing Slayers and friends suddenly turning... this had all the earmarks of a bad romance novel... She couldn't quite keep herself from a disgusted murmur. "I'm the tooth fairy if this is everything."   
  
More to the point, she needed a new plan, since she wouldn't be able to count on having the other Slayer help her against Kakistos. One Slayer and one Watcher would not do, she had learned that in Georgia.   
  
What was a Slayer to do?   
  
end part 3.  
  
Faith ended up spending some of her time in the afternoons exploring the town, occasionally with one of the teens, which she'd learned called themselves 'the Scooby Gang'. They would tell her some about the town, and about some of the things that they'd experienced. Tales of demons, and vampires, and magic spells. Sometimes, she'd hear about the same thing from a second person, and the story might sound entirely different. It was quite the interesting experience.  
  
She'd do a patrol after what she was starting to think of as 'story time'. There was definitely a lot of vampires and demons around... apparently the whole 'lure of the hellmouth' wasn't just a story. But there was something weird, a section of town where everything seemed... quiet. Not the quiet of no vamps, but the quiet of no obvious activity. It didn't fit the rest of the town, and it gave her all sorts of questions.  
  
Faith made a note to herself to not only pay extra attention, try to figure out where the boundaries to this quiet zone fell, but see if she could figure out why. If the Watcher came back, maybe he would know something. At the very least, he should have a different take on some of the Sunnydale adventures. Maybe he could fill in a few gaps.  
  
There was definitely a lot going on here, demons and vampires all over. But... for some reason, there was a place, this old sort of run down mansion on Crawford Street that all the nasties seemed to avoid. They wouldn't go inside, like the place just creeped them out entirely. So, she'd gone to check it out. There had been some seriously weird feelings from that place, something that made her hear echoes of a woman screaming, some sort of roaring noise, the crackle of flames... metal clanging like a swordfight. This feeling of twisting, like some sort of sudden roller coaster, expect that she wasn't moving. And it made her skin crawl... something big and dark and very bad had happened in there. Anything bad enough to scare the vamps and demons after the fact had to have been really bad. She was almost afraid to find out, bus nobody seemed to know.  
  
Eventually, maybe two weeks after she'd got into Sunnydale, her patrols well established, things had fallen into something like a pattern. She'd even been taking the wallets of the vamps before dusting them, the better to pay her rent at that horrible motel. She'd found a map of Sunnydale, highlighting the cemeteries and other high traffic zones for vamps and demons, and marked out that quiet area. There wasn't a clear physical or mystical delineation, but it was easy enough to figure out the boundaries. All she needed to do now was figure out what the boundaries were for, who's territory was that?  
  
She was making a sweep through a park, one of the quiet ones out of the way, isolated enough that nobody would hear things, nobody would investigate. She almost continued on towards the cemetery, except... there was this feeling, like a vibration in her bones. It was almost like the feeling of a vampire, but just a bit different, not quite so hostile feeling, but not weak. It was weird, and it seemed to be coming from... that way. Carefully, she followed the feeling, which seemed to be coming from a slender woman beside the fountain, a person dressed in leather pants and a jacket, with red hair falling half way down her back. Maybe this was the mysterious Willow? Whoever she was, there was something about her that was... off.  
  
Red looked up, her head slightly tilted, and then turned towards her, looking right at Faith. She didn't look like she was preparing to attack, but she definitely looked wary. The feeling of power was stronger here, and Faith had a sudden, wild idea. If she couldn't get help from the Slayer here, maybe... maybe she could get help from the local scary population? At least to get rid of Kakistos.  
  
Might as well go for it. After all, she was running low on options. "I'm Faith, the Vampire Slayer. You must be Willow. I've heard a few things about you."   
  
"What have you heard? And why did it lead you to stalking me in the park?" Red was looking at her, her expression caught between suspicion and curiosity, but carrying no obvious threat.  
  
"Sorry about the stalking, it's a habit I've got into. As for what was said, more like what wasn't said. I'm pretty sure I only got part of the story." Red at least seemed willing to listen, which was a good sign. Maybe this crazy plan would work...   
  
There was a definite trace of humor in her voice when Red spoke again. "So... you want details before getting stake-happy? Or is it just a really slow night and you're bored?" Willow sounded curious, and thoughtful. "If you want to talk, there are a couple tables over there, we can maybe... sit down and chat."   
  
Well, that would be a start, Faith decided. She still didn't trust Willow, even if she hadn't shown any signs of attacking her. She kept glancing over, noticing the way the red head moved, like a hunter, sleek, smooth, graceful. The ended up perched on the tops of two tables, facing each other, but with definite personal space.   
  
Taking a breath and hoping for the best, Faith began to explain, her tone trying for neutral. "It's been an interesting patrol. There's a part of town that looks like prime vamp turf, likely buildings for lairs, plenty of dark allies, all that, but I didn't run into a single hunting vamp. Actually, I felt like I was being watched, and didn't run into any hostile demons either. There were plenty of both in the rest of town to make me think that's an odd thing. Also, I got some info on Sunnyhell from some guys who said they helped B, but there were some big gaps there, y'know? I figured since the gaps were about you, you could fill me in on them."   
  
"hmmm I can fill in a few of the blanks for you, I suppose. Let's see..." Willow was looking thoughtful, as if she was trying to decided how safe Faith would be. After a few seconds, she continued. "Once upon a time, there was a tribe of gypsies that decided to give a vampire a soul. However, for some stupid reason, they put a clause on their spell: if he ever had a moment of pure happiness, with no guilt or misery over his past, the soul would go away. Buffy and Angel got... involved, they... got really involved one night, and he lost his soul. Instead of Angel who was hopelessly devoted to Buffy, there was Angelus, who couldn't stand her."   
  
"Angelus! I've read a bit on him in the watcher books. He's dangerous... what happened after that?" Faith suddenly found herself much more interested.   
  
"Angelus decided that instead of tormenting the Slayer that the soul had loved..." Willow paused, licking her lips before continuing her story. "Instead of tormenting Buffy, Angelus had something else in mind. He wanted... me. He gave me presents, flowers... I had a talk one night, with Spike, trying to sort out my feelings. Xander apparently saw me talking to Spike, and the next thing I knew, my 'friends' were accusing me of sleeping with the enemy and betraying them all. They stopped talking to me. I had Angelus and his family, so I wasn't alone."   
  
"So, you aren't involved with this Spike vamp at all? They sounded pretty sure..." Faith knew that she was frowning. The Scoobies thought that Willow was sleeping with Spike. They hadn't mentioned Angelus at all. This complicated the already confusing mess.   
  
"I'm his mum now, so no, there's no sex with Spike. Besides, then, he was involved with Dru, his girlfriend for over a century. He's a natural born... or maybe naturally turned flirt, so I guess I can see how the whole no sex thing might be missed." Willow frowned, unhappy with something. "Dru wanted Angelus, not Spike... or maybe she wanted them both, I'm not certain. But Angelus didn't want her anymore."  
  
Willow's fingers were tapping along the table, and her eyes had flickered golden as she continued, a hint of growl getting more noticeable as she mentioned this 'Dru'. "She left the family and Spike, set up her own lair, and got a hold of the demon Acathala, who almost sucked the world into hell once that crazy tramp pulled… umm, I digress. Dru had me kidnapped. She was really pissed that I had Angelus and she didn't. So, she decided to chain me up and torture me for a while before unleashing Acathala - which she DID, the stupid, crazy..."   
  
With a pause, the redhead almost visibly reigned in her temper, the growls ceasing. "ahem, sorry. Bit of an emotional subject. Anyhow, Dru let Acathala open a portal to hell while Angelus and Spike were trying to rescue me. Buffy showed up during the whole fight, which I missed on account of being chained up in the basement and bleeding. Spike was forced to kill Dru, which closed the portal, but not before... umm Buffy sent my Angelus to hell. Then, she ran away, left town, adios."   
  
Faith was staring at Willow, watching the golden eyes and remembering the growls. Red looked like a vamp, sounded like a vamp, but she didn't feel quite like a vamp. "Red, catch."  
  
She tossed a small gold cross at Willow, hoping to figure out how much like a vamp she was. The redhead simply caught it, with no damage or signs of pain. This was getting to confusing, could she get notes somewhere? "When did you get the vamp eyes?"   
  
Willow glanced at the object in her hand, one finger tracing over the cross. "umm While the whole fight in front of Acathala thing was happening, I sort of... ummm talked to the Oracles and ended up bonded to Angelus, soul to demon. So, I got a few... side effects, like yellow eyes and I'm stronger. The quiet area in town in my clan's territory, and we can be discreet. So... why did you come to Sunnydale? And what's with the cross tossing and surprise thing? Did you expect... you expected it to burn me, didn't you?"   
  
Faith let out a soft whistle, impressed by the story. More so by the way Willow had put everything together, immediately understanding the point of the little cross. "Yeah, I did think it would burn you. You put out a vamp vibe, a really strong one, like a master. Guess the whole bond thing might explain that. You didn't seem surprised that I'm the Slayer, why's that?"   
  
Willow made a little dismissive wave with her hand. "My minions have been keeping an eye on you since you first got into town. A girl, with a slayer vibe, dark hair, and a tattoo. Slayers are dangerous, so I told them to stay back, but keep an eye on you. No single minion could take a trained Slayer, they'd just get killed trying. There are enough idiots from the rival clans that I'm sure will piss you off enough to hunt them down and slaughter them all. Which means one more rival we don't have to get rid of ourselves."   
  
"Practical. Let me guess, if those other rivals killed me, just peachy for your clan?" Faith had been listening to Willow, trying to see the person described by the Scoobies, and not seeing either the shy girl or the 'deceitful traitor' that they'd tried to say she was. But, Red had power, and a clan of vampires. "I got a proposition for you , Red. Since you seem to be the one in charge, at least for some of the vamps here... I think... I think that there's something we can help each other out with."   
  
end part 4.   
  
Willow looked startled for a moment, her eyes taking on the slight glaze of intense thought. "Since I don't think I'm your type, I have the feeling this would be a business matter. Does it relate to why you're in Sunnydale?"   
  
Those calm words made it all real again, the fear, the helplessness as Kakistos had killed Joseph. Her confusion over why the ancient vampire was after her and the raw panic inspired by the suggestion that he might get her. Like if a small child was bad, the scary things would get them. Only Kakistos was real. "I was in Georgia, along with my watcher. There was something big going on there, and the council thought it should be handled. I haven't... I haven't actually been the Slayer... or a Slayer for very long. We went, and there was... this really old, ugly vampire was there. He was taking control of the area, planning something that was probably going to be big and evil and nasty. He... he killed my watcher, and was coming after me. I think... I'm certain that he was following me, although I might have lost him in Arizona. I came here because... I thought if I had the other Slayer working with me, maybe Kakistos would be the one killed, not me."   
  
"Kakistos is coming here, after you. You think he wants you for some sort of... maybe a ritual sacrifice or something? If he comes here, he'll try to take over, want the hellmouth." Willow's eyes were focused on Faith, filled with this intensity as she considered her words. "hmm.... Are you... are you suggesting an alliance? You and my clan against Kakistos?"   
  
Part of her rebelled at the idea, having heard so much about the untrustworthiness of vampires. But she didn't have any other options. "Yeah. With a little side of I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone kind of thing... except... hmm there's the whole killing thing that vamps tend to do..."   
  
Willow smiled, an expression that didn't look quite human. "My clan behaves. No randomly turning people, no public hunting, no dead bodies of people that will be missed. That sort of thing draws unwelcome attention, and there are... other ways. Kakistos doesn't sound like anyone we want in town any more than you want him here. Also, we keep our territory clear of hostile demons, so you won't need to do routine patrols there, although we might get a hold of you if there's a particularly big, nasty demon."   
  
Faith grinned as she pushed herself off of the tabletop. Someone would help her against Kakistos... It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "So... we have a deal? Ah, we don't have to seal this with blood or anything, do we?"   
  
Willow grinned back, the expression oddly predatory and sensual at the same time. "Don't have to, although if you really want, it could be arranged... As long as you keep it, your word will do."   
  
Faith moved closer to Willow, putting a bit of sway into her hips. Joe had always said that vampires were motivated by sex and violence... if she could move herself from violence to sex in the minds of Red's clan... "Not that I plan to break it, but... I always prefer to seal a promise with a kiss."  
  
Stepping close to Willow, Faith kissed her on the lips, slowly, sensually. Part of her was screaming that this was bad, an unwise idea. Besides, she'd always preferred male lovers. Willow stood there, stunned by the unexpected kiss.  
  
Faith smirked at her and sauntered away. "Be seeing you Red. Give your boy a nice hello for me."   
  
Things weren't the way she'd expected in this town. Nothing was quite normal, especially not the part where not quite but almost vampire redheads running clans, willing to offer a tentative truce with a Slayer. Best keep Willow off balance, best not to let her change things around so that she became one of her followers. "Got to keep her off balance... last thing I need is to find myself under authority of some red haired almost vamp. But help is good. Kakistos is bad. I just might live long enough to see eighteen after all."   
  
But maybe, just maybe things were looking up. Maybe she wouldn't have to keep running anymore. Maybe between herself and Red... Willow just didn't seem like the right thing to call the woman who ruled a clan of vampires. Red seemed to fit better. Maybe with Red's help, Kakistos would be beaten. She hoped so, anyhow.  
  
end part 5.  
  
If she could count on Red and her vamps to help get rid of Kakistos, that would be wonderful. If she could trust them to keep the bargain on not trying to kill her... If it wasn't some elaborate trap. If she wasn't dreaming of the possibility of help while tucked into the back of a truck. So many if's, and not enough information.  
  
But she figured that this was real, and not a dream. Her dreams were never this long, this elaborately detailed and confusing. There were so many variables to the situation. How much could she trust Red and her Vamps? How much could she trust the Scoobies? Would this mysterious Watcher Giles come back in time? Did she dare to hope that they would be able to defeat Kakistos? Dare she try to plan for after Kakistos?  
  
She wanted to be able to count on Red keeping her word, making her vamps follow the bargain. She wanted to have something... some constant. Willow as a local power seemed like something that she could deal with. She'd been fairly polite, no attacks, no insults... and she'd been willing to work together against Kakistos... maybe against other major threats. Of course, it went against everything that a Slayer was supposed to be doing to make a deal with a vampire. But... she intended to keep her side, and she needed help against Kakistos.  
  
Faith scrubbed one hand over her eye, refusing to let more tears fall for Joseph, for the times before Kakistos had changed everything. Tears wouldn't change anything, and they'd make her eyes scratchy. She had to learn to deal with Joseph's death, with everything that had changed, because the only other option was mental instability followed by death. She didn't want to become Faith the loony Slayer or Faith the Homicidal Maniac.  
  
She could figure out what to do next once she was sure that she would be around to have a 'what to do next'. Time to figure out if there was a chance to hook up with a cute guy. Time to figure out if there would be a better place to stay. If she survived Kakistos.  
  
He would be there eventually. He'd chased her halfway across the country, a few more hundred miles would hardly stop him now. Especially with that whole demon magnet effect that the Hellmouth was supposed to have. So, Kakistos would be here, it was just a question of when.  
  
And a question of would she be ready. Faith was through running. It hadn't worked, it had made her feel sick inside, and it had done no more than buy her a bit of space. She had to use that space to be ready, to prepare herself for the inevitable conflict.  
  
Because when she next faced Kakistos, she knew that only one of them would walk away. She prayed that it would be her.  
  
While she was at it, she threw in a prayer that Willow was sincere in her acceptance of the truce, that she wouldn't have to fight her vampires as well as Kakistos. That she might have a slim chance of allies.  
  
Faith did not permit herself to ask for the chance of friends.  
  
end part 6.  
  
End Faith in Motion 


	3. Faith and Hope

Faith and Hope   
  
Author: Lucinda  
  
story #3 in Bonds of Faith, companion series to Bonds of Soul & Demon  
  
Main Character: Faith  
  
rating: pg 13  
  
Disclaimer: I hold no legal rights to Faith or any other characters from the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer  
  
Distribution: Anyone with permission for BS&D that wants this can have it, anyone with permission for BoF1 may have this.  
  
note: somewhat AU season 3.  
  
Faith leaned back in the chair of her hotel room and sighed. She'd learned that the Hellmouth was right underneath the high school library, which had to be a coincidence. After all, nobody would be dumb enough to put a school over the Hellmouth on purpose, and wasn't high school bad enough without any supernatural evil giving it a boost? But the stories that the Scoobies kept telling were useful in that they gave her an idea just how much variety there was in the evil things that came crawling, leaping, and running towards the Hellmouth. They gave her an idea what she might be facing, and what sort of non demonic things she would have to deal with.  
  
The bright side was that she wouldn't have to worry about the cops hassling her like they ones in Boston, or Williamsburg, or Atlanta, or... well, in a lot of places. The people here would probably forget all about it even if she killed something right in front of them. That seemed almost impossible, and it would make things so much easier. But without a proper Watcher to help figure out what things were, she could be in trouble. She needed information, supplies, and maybe the occasional backup, none of which looked likely from Xander, Cordelia and Oz.  
  
Of course, a bargain with a vampire to not cause problems and offer assistance against the really big things probably wasn't a good solution. It seemed too easy, too simple, but she'd already made the suggestion, struck the devil's bargain. Now she just had to hope that they held to it. Hoped that the person the Scoobies claimed had betrayed them all had something resembling a sense of honor...  
  
Faith winced, wishing that she didn't have the complications of this situation. Kakistos was after her intending some sort of horrible and painful death. Add that to the already large assortment of demons and vampires that she would run into and it was clear that she'd already been in trouble before the bargain with Red. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and all that stuff... Maybe she'd be able to convince herself of it. But in the meanwhile, she still had to patrol, both because of her duty and because it would help work out some of her nervousness.  
  
As Faith walked, she considered Sunnydale, and the various buildings, parks and cemeteries. She was coming to especially despise the Sunnydale cemeteries, all of them were full of big mausoleums, and looming tombstones that could be used to hide behind or inside, and the vamps always knew them better than she did. A couple of them even had access to the sewer tunnels, which just seemed all sorts of wrong. Almost like they'd been designed for the vamps to use. But surely that was nothing more than paranoia speaking? Who would design a place with the monsters in mind? Who would have the resources and power, let alone the motivation?  
  
"Slayer." The voice was flat, as if every trace of emotion was being suppressed, and he had a slight hiss to the s sound..  
  
Looking up, Faith learned that the speaker was a human looking guy, maybe twenty-ish, that looked like a college kid, but felt like a vampire. He wasn't attacking her, and she didn't feel any more vamps lurking in the bushes near him. But Faith was still wary and suspicious. With a tiny gesture towards him, she made a half nod. "Vampire."  
  
"You might want to check the docks. There was a lot of fuss being made about some things that were supposed to be arriving." With those words, he made a small nod that still allowed his eyes to be on her, and slowly backed away a bit before vanishing into the night.  
  
Maybe this deal with Red might work out after all. And maybe she was just sauntering down the fast route to death. Faith shook her head, considering the whole situation. She was a Slayer, she wasn't likely to have a particularly long life anyhow, and if there was something arriving at the docks, it would be bigger than the chance of picking of the careless cemetery roaming vampires.  
  
end part 1.  
  
Naturally, the docks had turned out to hold vampires and an assortment of demons, many of which had scurried away. She was certain that some of the scurrying things had been demonic rats. There had been a shipment, and a trio of demons waiting for it to be unloaded. All of them were nasty types. She attacked, hoping to dispatch them as quickly as possible. The first one went down fast, a solid blow to the back getting it out of the way before they had time to react. The other two took longer, and she ended up with a lot of bruises, and some scrapes before they finally went down. Breathing hard, Faith decided to check out this eagerly awaited shipment.  
  
The shipment turned out to be an assortment of drugs and poisons. Some of them would kill humans, while others would just leave them entirely helpless to resist an attack. Yeah, definitely a shipment that should be stopped. She grunted slightly as she picked up the end of the chest, dragging it along with her as she retreated once more to the little motel where she was staying. Why did the bad guys have to get creative, to adapt to the times? Using drugs and poisons... And how in the hell was she supposed to dispose of these things anyhow?  
  
But she was there to stop the monsters. That was her job, after all. Kills the vampires before they kill people, stops the demons, prevents the evil prophecy from happening... And right now, she'd just about maim for a decent bed and a truly hot shower. For this, she'd come to Sunnydale? For this, she was staying in a miserable little hotel? Closing her eyes to prevent tears, Faith reminded herself that she didn't have any other options. She had no family, her Watcher was dead, and she had no income... maybe she should start checking for wallets on the vamps before she dusted them? She would just have to hope for something better, for someone to help her find an acceptable solution. Maybe the local Watcher could help, if and when he got back from whatever he was doing.  
  
The next few days blurred together, with only minor details being worth noticing. She was staggering back to the cheap little hotel along a street of cheap hotels and bad restaurants, when she slowed and halted, feeling the unmistakable presence of vampires. Carefully, she looked around, trying to find the vampire, to wake the hell back up before she got killed. The sensation was coming from two places, from a room at the far end of her hotel, and from the figure leaning against her door. It wasn't someone that she recognized, in fact the vampire couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen when she died, her dark hair cut short and her whole look suggesting teen runaway, possibly desperate. If it was a hunting strategy, it might pick up a lot of sleeze-balls, but it still made Faith shudder at the images.  
  
"So... why are you at my door?" Faith decided to try a simple question first. Part of it was because the vampire had clearly been waiting for her, which meant a purpose. Part of it was to give herself more of a chance to wake up.  
  
With a slight shrug, the girl stood up, rolling her shoulders as if they were stiff. "I got sent with a message for you. The guy you've been waiting on, the Watcher. He's back in town."  
  
"You're one of Red's, aren't you?" Faith connected things, feeling a bit relieved that this vamp probably wasn't a danger for now.  
  
"Yes." The vampire nodded, her voice soft, not quite making eye contact with Faith. It was the perfect act of a nervous teenager, although she felt like she had several decades on her at least. "If you have trouble finding him with other sources, the Lady suggests the High School library."  
  
Faith nodded, watching as the vampire started to walk away. Then, she paused, turning back to Faith with a cheeky smile. "The noisy folks over in room nineteen are also hers, but they were all over each other, so I told them to just get a room and get on with it. If they keep you up too late, just go pound on the door and tell them to keep the racket down."  
  
She couldn't keep from laughing as she let herself into the hotel room. Horny vamps at the end of the hotel... there was just something wrong with that. But she didn't feel up to dealing with them right now, she just wanted some sleep. Maybe everything would be more manageable in the morning.  
  
end part 2.  
  
The next day rolled around, and after concluding that she just couldn't sleep through the sunlight, the ancient and noisy vacuum of the motel maid, and the couple next door screaming at each other in Spanish, Faith had grudgingly left the bed. A shower that didn't stay hot for nearly long enough and some fairly clean clothing later, and she felt ready to face the day. Almost anywhere besides this miserable little motel room. Pulling a jacket on to hide the stake and knife, she left the room. There would be something to do somewhere, right?  
  
She spent a couple hours hanging out at a little video arcade before making her way towards the Bronze, feeling rather bored by the whole mess. There was nothing to do during the day, not without someone to talk to, help her find the useful things. There was probably a library somewhere, and if she could find it, then she could go hang out there flipping through national Geographic magazines and reading a far greater assortment of romance novels than she'd ever be able to hide in her place… if she'd actually had a place. They were complete fairy tales, but that was their appeal – near total separation from the real world and responsibilities. And they had nothing to do with demons, saving the world, or the risk of agonizingly painful injuries.  
  
"Faith." The soft voice belonged to Oz, one of the Scoobies. For some reason that she couldn't put her finger on, he set off her Slayer senses.  
  
"Oz… Your band performing tonight?" Faith had wondered about the quiet guy, about how he'd gotten involved in the whole mess, in what he thought about the vampires, about Willow's departure and the vanishing Buffy. But he rarely spoke, and he tried hard to avoid opening up about anything personal.  
  
"Yeah." He nodded, glancing at the stage for a moment. "Giles came back. I thought you might want to see him, ask some questions."  
  
"Cool. So, where is he?" She stood up, a brief shifting of her jacket reassuring her that her weapons were still there.  
  
"School library." He rolled one shoulder, as if trying to unknot a muscle. "I can drop you off with my van."  
  
"Thanks, that sounds better than hanging around here till dark." She followed him to his striped van, sighing at the color of it. "So, where's the happy couple?"  
  
"Supposed to be catching Giles up on what he's missed." Oz frowned as the van's motor turned over once, sputtered, turned over again and caught. "You might want to make sure he's got the facts on you."   
  
Faith tried to be patient, and the trip to the High School went fairly quickly. They started down a hallway, and Faith listened to their footsteps echo. Finally, Oz led her to the library, and pushed open the door, revealing rows and rows of books, and a table where a sandy haired man sat with a teacup. Xander was explaining something, she caught 'patrol… cemeteries… improving.' Cordelia was filing her nails as she listened, wearing some pale blue sundress that made her look like she belonged in a catalog.  
  
"Faith, Giles. Giles, this is Faith." Oz gestured from Faith to the sandy haired man, offered a small nod, and turned around to leave the library. "Later."  
  
"Thanks for the ride." Faith called, not quite wanting to alienate him until she knew why he registered to her Slayer senses. Then, she sauntered closer, taking a good look at the man at the table. He couldn't have been much over forty, and he seemed to be in pretty good shape under that mostly buttoned shirt. Wire frame glasses, nice hands… "If I'd known that Watchers came this young and sexy, I'd have shown up here earlier."  
  
"Ack! This is… Giles!" Xander squawked, making a face at her words.  
  
Cordelia stood up, shaking her head. "What ever. I've been here long enough, I'm sure you can handle things from here. Xander, did you want to go with me to the beach?"  
  
"Beach, err. Yeah, lets go." Xander edged away from the table before practically bolting away with Cordelia.  
  
Giles blushed a bit, and somewhat awkwardly polished his spotless glasses on a soft handkerchief from a pocket. "Ah... right. You have been the Slayer since the end of May?" Giles was looking at her, a faint tension between his eyes, and his fingers twitched towards an empty teacup.  
  
"Yeah, since the end of May. I wasn't exactly unprepared though. I'd had a Watcher since I was about five, and my first Watcher managed to arrange for me to have some stuff, gymnastics lessons, special track for the elementary classes that I was in... an early grounding in the physical side of things. After he died, I got a new Watcher... He was big on the more academic side." Faith had pulled herself up to perch on the edge of the table, her feet swinging slowly as she looked around, not quite willing to look this new Watcher in the eyes yet. "Told my mom that I needed a tutor for my school work, which I did... He gave me the whole speech about there are ancient evils, and destiny, and how I had the potential to become something called a Slayer, the big shining defender of the helpless and all that. Vampires were evil, demons were real... and I had to learn how to fight against them, in case I was called. He didn't tell me about how Slayers were called, not for a long time."  
  
"I'm pretty good on the physical end of things, although I'm not to good with authority figures. I can read French, German, and a bit of Latin. All I can do with the various old dead languages is maybe recognize them and look for pictures. I've been patrolling here since I got into town..." Finally, she looked over at his face, noticing that he was listening, both to what she said and what she didn't say.  
  
"Have you found anything unusual for a town this size?" There was curiosity behind the innocent seeming question.  
  
"There's the whole strong evil vibe that covers the whole town, I've seen more cemeteries than apartment complexes, more churches than fast food places, and…" Faith paused, knowing that those weren't entirely what he'd meant. "There's a quiet part of town. As far as the special night life goes, I mean. It looks like prime territory, and I can feel them out there, feel them watching me if I go through, but I never see any action there. No fresh kills, nobody getting attacked in the allies, no marauding demons."  
  
"Willow's clan." The words were barely a whisper, and he closed his eyes. "She has been keeping them in line then."  
  
"So… You know about Red and her pack of vampires?" Faith wasn't quite certain how to react to that. Granted, Red had seemed pretty self controlled, for someone who felt like a vamp, but it was entirely against tradition, the rules, and maybe against Slayer instinct. "I sort of… made a deal with her."  
  
"A deal?" He looked at her, eyes narrowing slightly. "What sort of deal?"  
  
"I promised to leave them alone as long as they behaved and didn't jump me. Maybe exchange information on the big scaries." Faith offered, feeling oddly guilty.  
  
"Why did you feel the need to do this?" He didn't sound angry, but he was definitely worried about something.  
  
"Kakistos. He… he killed my Watcher, and he's after me. I know that I can't take him down alone." Faith pushed her shoulders back, determined not to let him make her feel guilty for trying the only option that she'd seen for a way to survive.  
  
"Kakistos? With the cloven hooves? Oh dear lord…" Giles began to polish the lenses of his glasses. "Oh dear… Yes, that does explain why you felt the need for some sort of possible back up."  
  
End part 3.  
  
Giles had started researching immediately, trying to learn what he could about Kakistos. He'd muttered something about her description being 'vivid but unhelpful'. So far, they'd managed to piece together a long and gruesome account of his travels and victims, but still nothing on why he kept killing Slayers every century or so. Nothing to tell them why he was after Faith.  
  
She'd kept patrolling at night, a good portion of it being that spending hours researching the vicious vampire that wanted to kill her gave her the most horrible stir crazy tension, and she just had to go move, fight, and slay things to get it out of her system. The old industrial section was usually a pretty good area for patrol, she could almost always count on catching some sort of nasty thing that needed killed. She edged past the old cannery, noticing a shape among the trash by an old building that had probably been cheap housing for the factory workers. It almost looked like a shoe sticking up from the trash…   
  
Something was near the maybe body, a tall, thin shape with a large head, sort of like an upside down egg shape with big dark eyes and a little mouth full of needle sharp teeth. It looked sort of hunched over, with long skinny arms and wicked looking claws, but it still filled the entire doorway. Something dark had been smeared over and around the things mouth, and over the wicked claws, something thick that oozed down and fell to the cracked concrete floor with a splat.  
  
"Damn, that looks like definite trouble." Faith whispered, pulling her knife and stake as she moved closer, trying to get a better look at the demon.   
  
There was an odd not quite texture to the thing, as if there was a very thin layer of something eggshell colored pulled taut over muscle. It looked up, and made this clicking noise, a sound that made it clear that there were more teeth inside the jaws, and it raised the thin arms, looking almost like something from an oriental illustration. Clicking at her, it swayed closer, moonlight reflecting yellow from those dark eyes.  
  
Faith's nose wrinkled at the smell, ghoul blood mixing with this stale, musty odor that set of alarms in her mind. It hissed, and lunged towards her, those wicked claws looking easily sharp enough to slash to the bone. Faith twisted out of the way, slashing her knife at the arm. Again it lunged, and she felt it's arm connect with her face, and she slashed out with the knife, hoping to sever a tendon o something as she connected hard with the wall. Her eye was throbbing and her lip stung, something warm tickling at her chin. The thing kept chittering as it retreated, disappearing back into the building, the shoe of the ghoul's body disappearing as the body was dragged inside.  
  
Faith didn't go after it. She didn't know what it was, but one of them was a definite challenge. And how did she know there weren't more in the building? No, this was definitely a situation for more information. And she knew just how to get it. Carefully, she made her way towards the location of the Sunnydale library, knowing that not only was that well inside Red's territory, there were benches to sit on. Sitting down sounded pretty good right now.  
  
She ended up sitting in the little park near the center of town, her eye still throbbing. She'd sorted out as much as she could of what the thing had looked like, how it had moved. After all, it was hard to identify a demon without more than tall, skinny, and hostile. There were plenty of people in the area, and she was almost certain that one of Red's vampires would be in the area soon. When they felt here, surely they'd wonder what was up, right?  
  
Her eyes were closed, and she was listening, trying to keep aware of her surroundings as much as possible. She could feel a vampire approaching, a couple centuries, in control, powerful. Opening her eyes, she had no trouble picking out the vampire. He was a bit under six foot, with bleached blond hair, sharp cheekbones, and a long leather coat. He sauntered closer, looking at her for a long while before offering in a calm voice with a British accent "Slayer."   
  
Resisting the urge to smile and pull at her sore lip, Faith nodded. "Vampire. You're one of Red's? I'm guessing that you're this Spike person that I've heard about."   
  
"Yeah, I'm Spike." He nodded slightly, and paused a few seconds, his eyes flickering over her and coming to rest briefly on her eyes, and then on her lip. "You look... something got your eye. You might want to put some ice on it. Any ideas what got you?"   
  
She gave a half smile, half smirk at him. "You think? Yeah... well, it wasn't something I recognized, and it got away. I was thinking... when Red and I talked, she mentioned something about consulting for big demons. Now, I'm not asking for a trip to the palace, but if I can maybe get a bit of help identifying this thing... It was big, strong, and fast. I'll have a better chance if I know where and how to hit it, y'know?"   
  
"Makes sense. I'll give mum a heads up, let her know what's going on. I'm sure you understand if I say you wouldn't be the top choice of houseguest." He had this little smirk as he spoke, giving her the impression that he was teasing, but wasn't really meaning anything personal by it.  
  
Curious, Faith looked at him. Was she about to see one of the strange mental link things that so many of the Watcher's Chronicles hinted at? "Sounds good, blondie. How you going to get a hold of her, some sort of vampire mind thing?"   
  
"Nah…" Spike grinned, as he pulled out a cell phone from his coat pocket "Not if I want to be able to give specific details. I got a cell. Maybe I should ask Mum to get you one for Christmas, if you're a good Slayer."  
  
Faith just started to giggle, amused by the idea of the scary master vampire using a cell phone. It was just so contrary to al the stereotypes. He rolled his eyes at her giggles, and eventually handed the phone to her. Squishing down her amusement and slight unease, Faith accepted the phone. "Hello?"  
  
:Spike said there was a demon you wanted to ask about. Can you describe it for us?: Willow's voice was easily identified, even through the hint of static.  
  
"Yeah. It was tall, but sort of skinny." Faith paused, licking her lips as she tried to clarify all the details, knowing that Willow would need more specifics. "I can't give an exact height, but it had to be close to nine or ten feet tall, and it was kind of hunched over. It had really long arms and fingers, and the fingers ended in these long claws. It was all bony looking, and sort bone colored as well. Little bitty mouth, but it looked like sharp teeth inside, big dark eyes. No hair, not scaly, but not quite smooth... kind of lines along where the muscle would go, like it's skin was really thin. It had a funny smell too, sort of like dust and something else, made me think of old graves, like opening a really old tomb."   
  
:Ick. Anything particular about the way it moved? Was it hunched in the open or in somewhere that would have a low roof for it? Did it move like a human would? Did it make any noises?: The questions were spoken with dismay that perfectly matched the 'ick', but didn't sound at all like the phrasing of a feared vampire leader.  
  
"Ick doesn't sound like something from a vampire clan leader. It didn't talk, but it made a few strange clicking noises, I think from it's teeth. I first found it in a condemned apartment over near the Cannery, it stood a bit straighter outside, but not all the way. It kind of did this swaying thing, and the eyes sort of reflected light like a cat's do."   
  
:Good description, some very useful detail here. It doesn't sound familiar off the top of my head, but we'll look into it. Promise we'll get back to you if we find it, especially if we can find details like venom or how to kill it.: She sounded as if she was already mentally sorting out where to look.  
  
"Thanks, Red. Your concern is... actually a lot more than I'm used to getting. Really, thanks. Hmm..." Faith smiled a little at the fact that Willow was actually willing to help. Granted, she'd said that she would, but there could be huge gaps between what people say and what they do. Then, her mind flashed back to her hotel room, and the fact that's he only had her knife, some stakes, and a small axe. "What happens if I need a particular type of weapon? I haven't got a full arsenal anymore."   
  
:Not a problem. Giles had his arsenal, most of them are locked up in the school library. I'll make you a copy of the key, that way if you need a weapon, you know where to find them and can get inside. Just remember to lock up behind you, and the principal is an obnoxious troll of a guy, presumably human though. You'll want to avoid him.: Willow's voice held a bit of amusement.  
  
Faith let out a sigh of relief, her eyes drooping closed for a moment. "Sounds five by five to me, Red. Let me know when you got the key, I can meet you somewhere to get it."  
  
The answer was swift. :Meet me at the Expresso Pump, tomorrow at about six in the evening. I can give you the key then.:   
  
"Great. I'll give the phone back to Fang junior now. You've been a gem, Red." Faith was smiling as she handed the phone back to Spike.   
  
Spike grinned, amusement flickering in his eyes as the phone vanished into his coat. "Mum's not to big on form for form's sake. She wants there to be a reason, hopefully a good one, or else she's likely to change things around. Keeps us on our toes. We'll keep an eye out for your tall bone demon."   
  
Her eye was still throbbing, and everything was starting to ache. Her miserable little hotel room seemed pretty appealing right now. "Never thought I'd be saying this to a vamp, but thanks. Maybe I'll see you around."   
  
"You probably will. Something else - Red's got some people looking for information of that Kakisti bloke. So far, we've got that he's Greek, over a thousand years old, maybe closer to two thousand. Very evil, suspected of making bargains with big evils from another realm, all that blather. There was something about hooves as well. If we find out anything, we'll get word to you." Spike's voice had gone serious again.   
  
"Sounds good, anything would be a plus. He does have hooves, and his hands are sort of... weird, like his fingers are growing together, almost like hooves as well. And he's got small horns on his head. Really gross and unnatural looking. She's something... and I don't think I've ever met anyone like her before." Faith wasn't quite certain what to think about the warm feeling that filled her. Willow was looking for information on her enemy? Granted, it was probably because he would be a danger for her clan as well, but… She didn't have to do this alone. And there was a Watcher as well, and he looked a lot better than Joseph ever had.   
  
End part 4.  
  
Returning to her room at the motel, Faith shook her head, trying to make everything fall into some sort of sense. Into a pattern that she would understand. She'd run across the whole country to find the other Slayer and get help. Now that she was in Sunnydale, Buffy was nowhere to be found, Buffy's friends kept comparing her to the absent Buffy, Buffy's Watcher was a fine specimen of a man, and she was actually getting help from vampires. This was all sorts of wrong.  
  
She'd been listening to the stories of life on the Hellmouth, and there were clear messages in them. Cordelia thought that Faith's fashion sense was lacking, a fault that was apparently not present in Buffy. Cordelia was always looking at her clothing and hair with this little sniff, muttering about Faith wearing her clothing too dark, too tight, too wild. Xander kept talking about the way Buffy fought, the way she smiled – it was so obvious that he had a crush on her. As for Oz, not only did she still have no idea why he set her senses on alert, he didn't talk much. The only thing she'd managed to learn was that he was in a band, and had commented that her training pattern was 'different'. Was that good or yet another slighting comparison to Buffy?  
  
She'd gathered a bit more about Willow's split with them. Apparently, Buffy had been involved with this vampire Angel, who supposedly had a soul. They got together, did the deed, and he woke up evil. Angelus started doing the typical vampire thing, and somehow or other, Willow ended up in a park talking to Spike, who was a Childe of Angelus. Xander had confronted her about the affair – which Faith didn't think was even happening – and Willow had gotten angry and stopped talking to them.  
  
Spike had called Willow 'mum'. That wasn't what you called your lover, not unless you had some serious Oedipal issues. If Willow wasn't having sex with Spike, why had they been talking? If he was calling her mum… Suspicion crawled up her spine, and Faith wondered just when Spike had started calling Willow 'mum', and how she'd gained control over a pack of vampires. That sort of thing wasn't easy, especially not for anybody with a pulse, no matter who they were sleeping with.  
  
The day was unremarkable, and Faith counted the hours until it was time to meet Red at the Espresso Pump. It might not be wise, but the promise of access to weapons was too tempting to ignore. And it wasn't access to the vampire's weapons, but to the ones in the library, the ones held in the library.  
  
Slipping inside the building, Faith scanned the room, looking for the red hair, trying to feel a hunter. She was here, and it was public enough that there probably wouldn't be any problems, but it never hurt to be a bit careful. A part of her wondered if maybe it was a bit lat to try to be careful now, but she ignored that whisper. She made her way to the counter, picking up a mug of hot chocolate as she continued to look for Willow.  
  
That was when she felt it, a sort of pulse, like a wave washing through he room. Nobody else seemed to notice it, but Faith couldn't miss it – like blood and sunlight and damp earth all rolled together. Blinking, she looked for the source, and there was Willow, standing at a little table in the corner. Walking closer, Faith grinned. "Nice little trick there, Red. Does it help keep everyone in line?"  
  
"Yeah, it's pretty handy." Willow paused, her eyes flickering over the people around them as she slid a ring of keys with a little key charm of an eagle towards Faith. "You forgot these the other day, so I brought your keys back to you. I also checked the sourcebook for that computer game you mentioned last night. It's from the second level, and you should use a blunt object on it. It's got bonuses to strength, and it's fast, but it hasn't got any special resistances. Get a blunt weapon from your inventory, and beat it to death. Watch out for the claws though, they tend to have a strong chance of causing infection."  
  
Faith blinked a moment, her mind drawing a blank at Willow's words. Computer game? Levels? Then comprehension dawned – it wasn't as if they could just talk about slaying demons like a normal, everyday event, even if it was such a thing for her. "Second... no special resistances? That's good, and just a blunt weapon... yeah. I can get one of those." She sipped at her hot chocolate, frowning slightly and blowing over her cup before sipping again. "Cool. I was pretty sure that I had that sourcebook, but I think it got lost in the move."  
  
"Rough day? You look..." Willow paused, her eyes focused on Faith as she held her cup. "A bit frustrated."   
  
"Mmmm. I got to spend a few hours trying to look up a few things with my new... study group. They're getting on my nerves. They keep comparing me to Buffy. I don't dress like she did... I don't talk like she did. I don't... study... like she did. They keep making me feel like I don't measure up to Buffy. Like I'm a cheap imitation." The frustration seethed inside of her, and Faith just had to let it out a bit. Besides, it wasn't as if Willow would go running off to tell the scoobies that Faith was annoyed.  
  
"Ouch. I can see why that would put you in a foul mood. Well, personally, I've noticed a lot of differences, but I don't have a problem with any of them." Willow was grinning now, and paused to sip at her mug of coffee. "You're not running naked, so your clothing is your choice. Doesn't look like stuff that will stain easy for your... workouts either, so that's more logic than she ever used. Haven't watched you dance, or work on homework, so no idea there. Different style for your exercise though. You seem to take things more seriously. We like you better that we liked her."   
  
"Really? Didn't think your group would like me much... at all." Faith looked at Willow, trying to figure out how sincere the redhead actually was. "More like find me entirely annoying."   
  
Willow was smiling now, here eyes sparkling with amusement. "Honestly? They aren't sure they like you. But we can tell that you're good at what you do. Effective, passionate about your time. Better yet, you can stick by your promises, which is a big plus with the conservative crowd. They... we respect you."  
  
She looked at the table, a bit confused at the warmth that was spreading over her cheeks, through her body at those words. They respected her? "I suppose there is a difference. I can deal with respected. Probably better than liked anyhow. Your people seem five by five."  
  
"Five by five? What exactly does that mean?" Willow blinked, placing the cup gently on the table as she looked at Faith. "Anyhow, they don't know enough to know if they like you. Hmmm... a couple of the guys are a bit restless. If you want a group to go with to get that second level demon we mentioned, you can meet a few of us at Eternal Hope, around ten. It is a bring your own snack event though."  
  
"Now Red, I can't be telling you all of my secrets, can I? Glad you got the keys back to me, and a group sounds... actually it sounds good. Back-up can come in pretty handy sometimes." Faith slipped out of the chair, feeling much better about Sunnydale. She had some allies, even if they were unconventional.  
  
End part 5.  
  
Faith had spent hours wondering if Willow and her vamps would show up. She'd said they'd be there, and she'd kept every promise that she'd made so far, but… Faith was more in the habit of doubt than trust. Shaking her head, she decided to get an early start on the night. Grabbing a couple knives and some stakes, Faith was out the door. She caught some huge thing with long arms and a tiny head, like some sort of troll or ogre out of a fairy tale. To her relief, it had been slow and clumsy. It even had a nifty hammer that she liberated, slinging it over her shoulder as she made her way towards the cemetery. A big, solid hammer with some heft to it, and the wooden handle was engraved with some sort of runes, and the wooden haft extended into a sharp wooden point about seven inches from the top of the hammer, leaving it not only unique looking, but useful against a variety of foes.  
  
Finding a nice, ornate headstone to lean against, she let the hammer rest on the ground, and waited. They'd have no trouble finding her if they showed up, and it would be silly to go hunting all over for them. It wasn't that long until she could feel a group of vampires approaching from the right.  
  
One of the lead figures was Willow, although Faith didn't recognize any of the vampires that were with her. All of them looked ready for a fight, with weapons and predatory smiles. Willow smiled and gave a little wave towards her.  
  
"Hey there. So, bone demons... blunt objects. Hammer time, then time to go party?" She realized that she was grinning, and shook her head.   
  
"Yeah. Of course, they had a much longer name in the books... Marraeocholith or something like that. Simple version, bone demons, blunt objects to shatter their bones, umm... go for the joints, ribs, or the head if you can. According to the book, those are the optimal targets." Willow looked almost cheerful as she offered the advice.  
  
She couldn't help but smile at the help. And considering the way things were going so far… She had flashes of Looney Toones with that Elmer Fudd and Buggs Bunny sort of Opera thing. "Fair enough. Well... a hunting we will go... but not for wabbits."  
  
It was less than fifteen minutes from the cemetery to the place where Faith had encountered the demon. The vampires began to fidget, a few even growling as they approached the buildings. A bit closer, and Faith noticed a strange, musty smell, most likely from that demon. There was also a low clicking noise, and a sort of guttural croaking.  
  
The clicking made her blood chill, and she gripped the hammer, her palms slightly sweaty. "That's the sound the one I ran into made. Be ready, it was fast."   
  
One of Willow's vampires hissed out a question "Are you sure all that noise is coming from just one?"  
  
Her words still hung unanswered in the air when three demons burst forth, leaping at the intruders from behind corners and rusting machinery. High pitched keening noises that were accented by a sharp sounding clicking set their nerves on edge, possibly intended to paralyze a person with fear. Their skin was pulled taut over inhumanly lean bodies, every shift of the muscles easily visible, the joints knobby with bone mass.   
  
Things soon became a frantic flurry of movement. Arms swung weapons, heads shifted, trying frantically to track all three demons, whose long arms gave them superior range. Bodies and legs moved rapidly, attempting to dodge the demons. One demon lunged at Faith, and as the Slayer ducked, Willow kicked sideways, connecting firmly to the demon's knee, sending it sideways with a wet sounding popping noise. The demon screamed, a spine chilling sound, and attempted to turn towards Willow. It shifted it's weight, and toppled, the injured leg giving out. They were on it like a swarm, everyone clubbing, beating, crushing the demon into a flattened smear, the pale skin splitting to reveal crimson blood.  
  
The feeling of triumph was short-lived, as a slash of claws struck one of Willow's vampires in the back, dropping her to the ground in a spray of blood and scream of pain. They had almost forgotten the other two demons. Unfortunately, the demons hadn't forgotten them, and seemed to be very angry about the death of their comrade. Their attacks showed a new fury, and soon Faith, Willow, and the vampires had formed a defensive group, surrounding the injured vampire on the ground. The demons seemed to be moving faster now, their movements almost jerky with what could only be fury. Occasional blows still connected to the demons, but things had shifted to a temporary stalemate.  
  
The balance abruptly shifted when one of the creatures apparently stumbled. Willow moved slightly forward, her staff swinging forward, connecting with the back of the demon's skull, just above the neck. It gave a little clack and fell to the ground, limbs twitching spastically. Faith lunged forward, swinging the hammer at the head, which was now nicely in range. At the same time, the other demon gave a furious shriek, and leapt over the group, claws slashing downwards, catching Willow over the shoulder-blade, sending her tumbling to the ground.  
  
The next thing that Faith was clear on, there was this deep roar, and a tall vampire with dark hair was attacking the demons. He was just battering them with his bare hands, and it was working pretty effectively. Spike was there as well, and he was helping the other vampires make certain that he fallen demons were quite thoroughly dead. By the time she finally felt certain that it couldn't possibly regenerate, it was little more than a bloody smear on the concrete.  
  
Spike knelt by the fallen vampire, inspecting her injury, attempting to determine just how bad it really was. Faith had some bruises, and a few shallow slashes along her fore arms, the sleeves of the jacket slashed repeatedly. The dark haired vampire had knelt beside Willow, his golden eyes focused so intently on her that he hadn't even glanced at Faith. One hand reached out, brushing over her hair before moving towards her back. He peered at the slashes. "Willow?"  
  
When Willow didn't respond, he made a small noise, halfway between a grunt and a growl before carefully scooping her into his arms. He brushed a lock of her hair back from her eyes, tucking it behind her ear as she had done so many times. He kicked at one outstretched hand of one of the demons, and carried Willow away, her still form held close to his body.  
  
Her stomach tense and bruised, Faith had watched with wide eyes, and her soft words hung loud in the air. "What was that about?"  
  
"That's Angelus." Spike's words were just a bit more smug than normal. "He's a bit worried about his mate, y' see."  
  
"Angelus? His mate…" Faith blinked, feeling as if her head was spinning with this new information. No, that was from the fight. "Willow and Angelus? That would explain why you called her 'mum'. And damn… She's got herself a fine piece of man."  
  
"She's his mate. When the Slayer - the other one, that is – sent him to Hell, she led us. She brought him back." One of the vampires spoke, rattling a length of chain in an effort to get the blood and bits of bone to fall away.  
  
"She…" Faith blinked, looking at the direction that he'd carried her. "No wonder you all listen the way you do."  
  
"Family's great." Spike had a smile as he looked over the vampires. "I'm sure we'll bump into each other again, Slayer."  
  
"Yeah… later." Faith shook her head, slowly heading back to her motel room. Willow and Angelus… He'd looked so worried about her, so tender. It made her jealous, not that Willow had her own vampire, but that she had someone to fuss over her, to help her when she was injured. And Faith didn't have anyone.  
  
An image of Giles flickered at the edges of her mind, and she smiled. She might not have anyone yet, but give her some time. She had a few ideas for the Watcher… Maybe some very close and personal training? Faith would definitely have to work on that.  
  
End part 6.  
  
End Bonds of Faith 3: Faith and Hope. 


End file.
